Lovely Bones
by sue-sylvester-shuffle
Summary: In which Effie Trinket is rescued from the Capitol, Haymitch heals her, and they move back to District Twelve to start a family. The world is a much safer place without President Coriolanus Snow. (HAYFFIE.)


Effie Trinket was damaged badly after her imprisonment in the Capitol, both physically and mentally.

She had been beaten almost daily. They had taken the whip to her until she cried. They had tortured her looking for information that she never had, information she had never even dreamed of having. She had no idea about the rebellion happening right under her powdered nose. Worse than all that pain was what they inflicted onto her mind. The Capitol was her home; it had been since she was just an excitable little girl. She had trusted and respected President Snow. All that had come crashing down as soon as they laid a hand on her. Effie had had no idea what to think, or who to trust. The Capitol was punishing her, but the rebels had left her out of their plans. Had they ever really cared about her at all? Did _anyone_ care about her? Most importantly of all, did Haymitch Abernathy care about her? When she would cry out for him late at night, the guards would tell her that he despised her, and would never come for her. Effie thought of the old victor's rough tone, and how he would insult her relentlessly. Memories of him holding her while she cried, kissing her hairline, and calling her sweetheart were buried underneath memories of him yelling at her.

Eventually, Effie was rescued, but not by Haymitch. He was there to meet her once the hovercraft landed in District Thirteen, though he looked a lot different than she remembered. The Haymitch that came to the hovercraft and lifted her up into his arms was sober, but he looked sicker and much older than the Haymitch she knew. He still had the same quick wit and crooked smile, but he seemed emptier, hollower, like a deflated balloon. Sometimes Effie wondered if he was really the man she had fallen in love with, or just an imposter who had no idea how to act.

Once she was convinced that it really was him, it took her a while to trust him again.

"Why didn't you come for me, Haymitch?" she would ask him.

Tears would pour down his lined face. "I wanted to, Eff, I wanted to so badly. But I couldn't. They wouldn't let me go."

"Why didn't you tell me anything about the rebellion?"

"I thought that if they did ever torture you, they would give up if they realized you didn't know anything."

"I didn't know anything, Haymitch, but they _did_ t-torture me."

"I know. I'm so, so sorry. I… I thought I was protecting you… I thought I was doing the right thing for you, Eff…"

"Were you worried about me? While I was in the C-Capitol?"

"Of course I was. I didn't know where you were, or what they were doing to you. I just prayed you'd be all right. I missed you so much, Eff, I just wanted you back in my arms."

They had many conversations along these lines. It took a while, but eventually, she believed him. When Effie was completely sure that Haymitch did not hate her, the two became inseparable. Wherever he went, you would find Effie too. When his withdrawal symptoms had him in and out of District Thirteen's hospital, she was there, asleep beside him on his rickety little bed. When she had a terrible nervous breakdown and had to be sedated for days, he was there, brushing her soft, strawberry blonde hair from her scarred face. Effie went with Haymitch to every meeting; Plutarch and the others went from accepting her presence to expecting it. She moved into his cramped quarters, and although she took the top bunk, they ended up sleeping beside each other every night. _Just like old times._ They held each other as they slept, both tormented by terrible nightmares, and for the first time Effie Trinket really understood him. For years and years, she'd wondered just why he drank so profusely, and slept with a knife. She had wondered what on earth he was so afraid of. Now, she could see for herself. It was the fear for your life, the lives of the people you loved. The fear of being inundated in one of your nightmares and finding that it was your reality and you would never wake up. The fear of your mind tearing itself up from the inside from thoughts as dark and cold as a winter night. The fear of what you might do to yourself.

"Do the nightmares ever go away?" she'd asked him drowsily through her tears one night. In the haze of darkness, she could just see him shake his head.

"They don't, Eff. They don't. But neither will I, so go back to sleep, okay?"

Although Effie was sickened by the thought of having her awful nightmares until the day she died, Haymitch's words were surprisingly soothing. She closed her eyes, nestling her head into the crook of his neck. "Okay." she mumbled.

"I love you, Eff." he grunted, face pressed to the pillow.

A small smile flickered across her face. "I love you too, Haymitch."

xXx

Weeks passed. One day, Haymitch approached Effie with important news. She was sitting on her bed, staring off into space with a rather empty look in her eyes. She did this often. He had seen that Finnick's wife, Annie Cresta, did the same. Despite what he knew was going on in Effie's head, Haymitch couldn't help noticing how pretty she looked. Her strawberry blonde hair was falling in soft curls around her face.

"Effie." he called.

She looked up at him. "Oh, hello there, Haymitch. Where have you been?"

"Just talking to Plutarch. Listen, Eff…" He went and sat down next to her on the bed. "Katniss, Peeta, and some of the survivors from District Twelve are going back home. I was, uh, I was thinking of going back too."

Effie stared at him, her green eyes wide. "Are you coming to tell me you're leaving me?" she asked in a quivering voice.

"God, no." Haymitch said, shaking his head. "Of course not. I was actually coming to ask you a question. I had kinda hoped you'd come with me. You know, back to District Twelve. What do you say?"

Her eyes got even wider. "Really? Oh, yes, of course I will!" A grin spread across her face. "Thank you, Haymitch. I love you."

"I love you too." He leaned down and took her hands in his. "You know I'd never leave you, Eff. Never."

Her empty eyes filled with tears. Haymitch leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "Hey, hey. Don't cry, sweetheart."

"I can't help it." she whispered. "I was so worried you were leaving me here. Haymitch, you're all I have."

He chuckled. "And you think that's different for me?"

"No. No, I guess not." She looked up into his eyes. They were dark grey and looked like something out of a black and white photograph. "You lost everything… didn't you? I remember you telling me. You lost everyone."

"That's right. I lost everyone but you. Except I didn't have you back then."

She nodded in acknowledgement. "Your parents. Are they dead?"

"Yes."

Effie looked thoughtful for a second. "Mine are still alive, I think. Back in the Capitol. Do you think they knew where I was?"

"I doubt it, sweetheart. I'm sorry."

She gave a brief shake of her head, and settled into silence. Just as Haymitch was about to end the conversation, she picked it back up again. "We'd be better parents, Haymitch."

Her words stunned him. Haymitch froze for a moment, dark eyes widening. Children? Images of little miniature Effies and Haymitches running around popped into his head. Running… running through the arena. _No. No. Never._

Before he could form an intelligible sentence, she had stood up, ran her hand distractedly through his tangled, dark hair, and walked out the door.

xXx

Effie fit into District Twelve well, which shocked Haymitch at the start. The old Effie would have stuck out like a sore thumb, with her sequins and frills and bright colours. She would have complained about the dirt and the poverty, and she would have gotten her high heels stuck in some godforsaken place that he would have had to rescue her from. However, the old Effie was dead, and she was not living in District Twelve. The new Effie, however, was just quiet and damaged enough to fit in amongst the ruins. She donned a pair of his old overalls and put her hair up in a bun. Haymitch saw her once with a smudge of dirt across the bridge of her nose, and marvelled at how much she looked just like one of the miners' wives he used to see around. He hardly recognized her anymore, but she still had that wounded look in her eyes. The old Effie, the peppy, excitable woman he used to put up with, was almost completely gone. She was still imprisoned in the Capitol. Sometimes, though, when Effie smiled, he saw a ghost of the woman she used to be. That wasn't very often.

Their life was simple. They would wake up from their nightmares and cuddle for a while before they would go and feed the geese. Effie would go and pick flowers to put in the empty bottles that had once been filled with his liquor. Sometimes, they would visit Katniss and Peeta. It was a nice, quiet routine that they went through. Haymitch felt that it was helping Effie calm down more, and that she was becoming less agitated and more like a real, whole person. He cherished her smiles.

When they heard the news that President Snow was dead, Haymitch felt a sort of relief that he had never felt before. There was no danger for them now. He would still see the snakelike president in his dreams, but now he didn't have to watch his step. There was no one breathing down his neck anymore. They were free.

"I can't believe he's gone." breathed Effie.

"Effie, he did awful things to you."

"I know. But I looked up to him for so long." she reminded him. "Everything's just so confusing for me right now."

Haymitch wrapped his arms around her. She nestled into him, and he could feel her shaking slightly. "Just think about it… we're safe now. No matter what we do, he can't hurt us."

"That's true." Her face brightened a little. "Haymitch, we… we can have children now, can't we?"

His smile faltered. "Eff… I don't know."

"Why not? No one can hurt us now that President Snow is gone. Our kids would grow up happy and healthy."

"I'm not worried about Snow now. I… I get that he's dead now, and we're not in any danger anymore. But that doesn't change… doesn't change _me._ "

"What do you mean?"

"I… I would be an awful father." Haymitch confessed. "And I'm forty-two years old, for heaven's sakes."

"What?" Effie looked aghast. "You would _not_ be an awful father, Haymitch. You would be a wonderful father! You're so caring, and I've seen how you were with Katniss's poor darling sister, Prim, let her rest in peace… and with Katniss and Peeta, too."

"Them, maybe. But I could never be a father, Eff, I could never have my own kids. I let so many poor goddamn children die over the years. It just wouldn't feel right to have my own." he said.

"But you could make up for all those kids who died." She laid her hand on his shoulder, and rested her chin there as well. "Remember… I let those children die, too."

"You were only an escort for fifteen years." Haymitch reminded her gently. "I've been a mentor for twenty-five years."

"Still… they weren't your kids. If we had children, we would protect them with our lives." Effie reminded him. "Haymitch, please just think about it."

He opened his mouth to tell her a final no, but the look in her eyes made him hesitate and reconsider. He hadn't seen such life in her wide green eyes for a long time. This was something she really wanted. Who was he to say no?

"I'll think about it." he promised. She beamed back at him. Not the soft little smile that he was used to, but really beaming, sunshine written all over her face.

"Thank you." She kissed him, and then got up, flouncing off with her hands in the pockets of her baggy pants. There was a bounce in her step that reminded Haymitch so much of the Effie he had lost that his chest ached. Although she had been insufferable at times, the old Effie had had an unquenchable joy that he missed seeing. It had been contagious, whether he had liked it or not.

He decided to think about it.

xXx

One day, months and months after they moved to Twelve, she approached him, and Haymitch was taken aback by how much she looked like the old Effie. "Haymitch," she began. Her voice was barely quivering with excitement. "I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" He was genuinely curious. What could possibly be making her so _happy?_

"Haymitch, I'm pregnant!" Effie burst out. She pressed her hands to her chin and grinned even wider.

Her words hit him like a powerful jolt of electricity. For a few seconds, Haymitch wondered if he were dreaming, or worse, dead. But Effie was definitely there in front of him, and she was definitely real. Was it just him, or was there a slight curve to her stomach that he hadn't noticed before?

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm completely serious." said Effie. "Isn't it wonderful?"

For years and years, Haymitch had sworn he would never have kids. But her words swam through his foggy brain. _No one can hurt us now that President Snow is gone. Our kids would grow up happy and healthy._

 _You would be a wonderful father._

A smile spread across his face. "Yes. That's great, Eff." He placed his hands on her stomach. It was definitely firmer and rounder than before. There was a child in there. _His_ child. Pride slashed through the cobwebs that had grown inside of his heart. "We're going to be parents."

"I know." she whispered, tears swimming in her eyes. She was beaming. "And it's okay now."

He leaned in and kissed her, his hands sliding from her stomach to the small of her back. She wrapped her arms tightly around him. Her cheeks were wet.

Times had changed. They were going to be okay.

xXx

"Haymitch?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we're going to have a boy or a girl?"

"I don't know, sweetheart. It's not inside of _me_. What do you think?"

"I don't know either. If we were still in the Capitol, we could find out. They had machines that could tell you."  
"Effie, if we were still in the Capitol, we'd be in prison, or worse, dead."  
"I'm just saying. Okay… what do you _want_ it to be, Haymitch?"

"I don't care either way. As long as the kid comes out healthy, I'm happy."

"But if you could choose, what would you want?"

"…A girl."

"Really? I wasn't expecting that."

"Yeah. I'm just afraid, if we had a boy, he would look like my little brother."

"The one who died."

"Yeah."

"Well, I hope it's a girl too, then."

xXx

It _was_ a girl. A little, red, screaming girl with a mess of dark hair. She was as healthy as could be. After a while, 'Baby Girl Trinket' fell asleep in her tired mother's arms, much to the relief of both her parents. Effie smiled as she looked down at the little bundle.

"She looks like you." said Haymitch. It seemed like the right thing to say.

Effie shook her head. "No, no, Haymitch. She looks like you, darling."

"Does she?" She did look like him. She had his olive skin and the same hair. Grinning, Haymitch reached down and tickled the baby's chin. She reached up with her tiny little hand and gripped one of his fingers. The touch sent shivers down his spine, and his dark grey eyes widened. She was so small, so helpless. But the world was a safer place now. _I'm your father,_ he thought. _I'll protect you. And I love you, sweetheart._

A few moments passed. Then Effie cupped his chin with one of her delicate hands, roughened only slightly by a day's work in District Twelve. She gazed into his eyes, the shadow of a frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Haymitch, you're crying." she noticed.

"It's nothing, sweetheart."

Effie laughed softly. "Okay, I'll believe you this once, on one condition. Will you name her?"

"Will I… what? Why me?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I just want you to."

"But Eff, that doesn't seem fair. You should name her. After all, you just pushed her out of your-"

"I'm well aware of that." Effie said. "But I really want _you_ to name her. Don't worry. I'll name the next one."

"The next one?" he repeated incredulously, raising one eyebrow.

"Well, we _are_ going to have more, right?"  
Haymitch paused for a few moments before nodding. "Yeah, 'course we are, sweetheart. Hmm… what does this one look like?" He racked his mind- and suddenly it came to him. A delicate name belonging to someone who was far from weak, someone who had saved his life.

"Maysilee." he decided. "I want to name her Maysilee."

"The girl from your Games?" Effie asked.

"That's right. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here right now."

"I think that's perfect." Effie replied, smiling. She looked down at her daughter. "Hello, Maysilee."

Haymitch put his arm around her, pressing his lips to her dishevelled hair. They were a family now. He hadn't had a family since he was sixteen years old. And for the first time in almost thirty years, he felt whole.

xXx

Maysilee was three when her younger sister was born. Alice, who was was named after Effie's mother, had pale skin like Effie's and strawberry blonde hair to match. The two girls looked so different that Haymitch would often ask, jokingly, "Did you cheat on me or something, Eff?"

Effie's answer was always the same. "Alice is only a baby, Haymitch. They'll look more alike when she's older." At one point, though, she got so tired of his teasing that she replied with, "I would never cheat on you, Haymitch. There is no one else living in this world that I would rather be with." This shut him up.

xXx

"You know what we should do, Eff?" Haymitch began one day, while trying to force a four-year-old Alice into her shirt.

"What?" asked Effie, who was cutting vegetables in the kitchen.

"We should get married."

Effie looked up, startled. "Are you... Is this you proposing to me?"

"Yeah." he replied. "I mean, we've been together for well over seven years. We've raised two beautiful daughters."

"Like me!" giggled Alice, continually squirming.

"Yes, like you, sweetheart." Haymitch grinned, lifting her up into his arms. "Anyway, Eff, it never seemed like a priority. We always had other things to think about. But I _would_ like to marry you. So, would you do me the honour of being my wife?" Slowly, he eased himself down onto one knee.

Alice squealed and jumped down. She ran toward Effie, screaming, "Mommy, say yes! Mommy, say yes!"

A wide smile spread across Effie's face. "Yes, of course I will, Haymitch. I love you more than anything." She rushed toward him, pulled him back to his feet, and pressed her lips to his. Warmth and joy washed through Haymitch. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up into the air, kissing her back. She smelled like the great outdoors, like trees and sunlight. The remaining survivors from District Twelve had done a fine job of rebuilding their home. Haymitch had rebuilt her.

"I love you so much." he whispered between kisses. "I'm so glad I found you. I promise I'll never let you go again."

Just then, he heard Alice screech, "Maysie, Maysie, come here!"

A few moments later Maysilee's footsteps filled the room. "What is it? ...Ew, they're kissing!"

Effie started to laugh, and pulled away. She went over and pulled the disgruntled-looking seven-year-old into her arms. "We're getting married, Maysilee."

"That's right." Haymitch said, beaming.

The girl's eyes lit up. "Oh! My teacher got married last year! Are you really getting married?"

"Yes, dear." Effie replied.

Maysilee grinned. "I can't wait!"

Alice squealed and leapt into Haymitch's arms. He kissed her on her blonde head, and looked at Effie. She looked back at him.

"You're the most important thing in my life." Haymitch stated.

"What about us, Dad?"

"Other than you girls, of course."

xXx

The ceremony was very simple, as no one in District Twelve had any money. Haymitch had a little bit saved up from his victor's winnings, but a fair chunk of it had gone to liquor during what he liked to call his 'dark days'. Still, they did not use very much for the wedding. They only used money for buying a nice shirt for Haymitch, dresses for the girls and Effie, and for two very inexpensive rings. The rings were not fancy. They were simple, silver bands, crude things that no one in the Capitol would have been caught dead in unless looking poor was 'in'.

Very few people were invited. Peeta and a very pregnant Katniss came, with their daughter. Hazelle, Gale's mother and the woman who used to clean Haymitch's house, came as well. That was it. They went out into one of District Twelve's greenest, warmest fields, where Haymitch was standing with a priest.

Peeta was giving Effie away. The two of them and Effie's daughters were at the other end of the field. "You look beautiful, Effie." he told her.

She was wearing a simple white dress with thin straps. It came down to her knees, and there was a small amount of lace trim on the straps and below the breasts. Her strawberry-blonde hair fell in soft waves over her bare shoulders. Maysilee and Alice had adorned her hair with lots of brightly coloured flowers. Her feet were bare. "Do I?" Effie asked nervously, tugging at the dress. "You don't think it's too loose?"

"No."

"Too tight, then?"

"No, Effie."

"What about…" she began tentatively. Most of her scars from when she had been tortured in the Capitol were showing. They had faded over the years, but were still quite visible. That was one mark of her past she had never been able to rid herself of.

Peeta seemed to realize what she meant, and shook his head solemnly. Before he could say anything, however, Alice screamed, "No! You look like a princess!" She and Maysilee were in matching pastel yellow dresses, each carrying little baskets of flowers. Most of them were crushed.

"Trust me, Effie." Peeta said. "You're going to make him cry."

"Okay." laughed Effie.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

Peeta smiled. He took her by the arm. "Go ahead, girls."

Alice took off with Maysilee at her heels. Peeta and Effie walked behind them.

From a distance, Effie could see Haymitch's eyes fall on the girls. He waved at them, but they ran right by him, throwing flower petals at Hazelle, Katniss, and her daughter. When they zoomed by, Effie could also see his eyes fall on her. They widened, and for a few moments he looked surprised. Then a smile spread across his face and he pursed his lips as tears welled up in his charcoal grey eyes.

"How do I look, Haymitch?" asked Effie, although his face said it all.

"Eff, you look absolutely gorgeous." he responded. "I love you so much."

Effie smiled as a pleasant warmth spread across her cheeks. "I love you too. And you also look gorgeous, if I may."

He had shaved, and trimmed his hair so it wasn't as long and tangled. The older victor was wearing a white dress shirt and fancy black pants. The man who had walked around the train car in his underwear and vomited on himself seemed like a ghost compared to who she had in front of her now. Then again, she had changed a lot too.

After staring at her for a few moments, Haymitch turned to the old priest. "We've written our own vows." he told him.

"Very well. Miss Trinket, you may begin."

Effie reached out and took her fiancé's hands in her own before beginning. "My dear, dear Haymitch. Let me start out by saying I never would have imagined myself marrying someone from Twelve. My parents would have disowned me." She laughed softly, not wanting her mind to linger too long on the thought of her parents. "But here I am, marrying you. And I have never loved anyone as much as I love you. I... I never knew what we had... back before we moved here... before everything that happened... I didn't like you then. But we kept... _having fun_." There was no way to say in front of the kids how they would have sex, night after night, after fighting, after crying, whatever. She _hated_ him and he _hated_ her but they were stuck in such a shitty situation, just the two of them, that it almost felt right. "But now I realize there was nothing fun about it. There were things happening that I had no clue about... And then, everything changed... they took me down into the deepest parts of the Capitol… and I was all alone. I thought about you every day... but they told me you weren't coming. You didn't, but you were there when they rescued me and brought me to Thirteen. I was nothing, Haymitch, a shell of a person. I think you know that more than anyone. But it's been years, and... spending my life with you has healed me. Now look at us. We have two beautiful daughters... and we're about to get married. I owe so much to you…" It was then that she realized she was crying. Effie choked out a final, "Thank you."

Haymitch was crying, too. He squeezed her hands tightly before beginning shakily. "You're thanking _me_ , Eff, but it should be me thanking you. You saved me. Before I met you, my life was meaningless. I spent year after year mentoring kids who… you know." He glanced over at the kids. He and Effie both were trying hard not to mention anything about the Hunger Games, about Snow, about anything like that. Their kids weren't going to worry about that. "My life was a train wreck. I started drinking at the age of twenty. I spent most of my time too drunk to move, or passed out. And the rest of the time, I was depressed. I felt helpless. There was nothing for me to live for. I had no one.

"I didn't like you either, when we first met. To me back then, you were just another empty-headed Capitol girl who stood for everything that had made my life a living hell. But… you were a distraction. I talked to you, Eff. You were the only person I talked to. And before long I realized… you weren't like the others. Suddenly I had something to live for, and that was absolutely terrifying to me. In my life, everyone who I loved ended up dead. I wasn't allowed to love. The night I realized I was in love with you, I cried.

"I tried to find you before we left for Thirteen. I don't know where you were, but I would have rather died than leave you behind. Still, Plutarch made me go. He said he needed me to get through to Katniss. I shouldn't have gone." More tears welled up in his dark eyes. He wiped them away, sniffed, and continued with a sigh. "Plutarch didn't understand why I was upset. He said you weren't part of the plan. He said you weren't important. I told him I needed you. That you gave me a will to live. I wanted to come find you, remember? I told you that, Eff. I spent every day in rehab thinking about you. All I wanted was to know if you were alive. If you weren't, I… I would have never been able to forgive myself. But you're alive. And I'm _happy,_ for the first time in over half my life. I haven't had a family since I was sixteen years old… but we have one now. Together. I love our girls, and I love you, Effie." He gave her hands a little squeeze. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here today. I never thought life could be this good. Thank you for letting me experience it."

Throughout his entire speech, Effie had been silently crying. She had never felt so raw, so emotional, so _loved._ "Oh, Haymitch." she whispered. That was all she could manage.

"Do you, Effie Trinket, take this man as your lawfully wedded husband?" asked the priest.

"I do." she said, her voice trembling.

"And do you, Haymitch Abernathy, take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do." replied Haymitch, beaming.

"Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you two husband and wife." announced the priest, accented by a scream of excitement from Alice. "You may kiss the bride."

Haymitch embraced Effie. Their lips met, and Effie wrapped her arms tightly around him, so that they would never be separated again. The small group of guests clapped and cheered. As Effie stood enveloped in Haymitch's arms, she wondered how someone she had disliked so much could become the person she loved the most.

Sometimes life worked in mysterious ways. One thing she _could_ say, though, was that the odds were definitely in her favour.

end


End file.
